Caroline Casey, founder of The Aisling Project (pictured second left,
back row) with other delegates at the Ability conference in Dublin Castle.
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Leading Irish private sector employers
urged to take a fresh look at disability.
Earlier this year Aisling Project founder Caroline Casey challenged leading
Irish employers to improve their attitudes and commitment to disabled
members of the workforce at a business conference featuring speakers as
diverse as An Tanaiste, Mary Harney TD, Michael Buckley, CEO, AIB Group
(via multimedia), Denis O'Brien, CEO Communicorp, Brian Crowley, MEP (via
multimedia) and prominent disability campaigner, Heather Mills.
The conference, by coincidence also entitled Ability, was attended by
over 200 representatives from leading Irish and international organisations,
and was an inspirational programme that highlighted the positive achievements
of organisations that employ people with a disability.
Aisling is the Irish word for dream and vision. The central tenet of the
Aisling Project is the dream of making a difference by demonstrating that
disabled people have a significant role to play in society and in the
workforce. The aim is to encourage people to focus on the individual,
their personal abilities and achievements and to see disability in a positive
light.
The Project also used the conference to launch and distribute a guide
for employers called Ready, Willing And Able. This was designed to help
overcome employers' indifference and dispel the myths and fears surrounding
disability.
Casey encouraged employers to combine with the Aisling Project to establish
the very first work experience programme in Ireland for the private sector
to encourage people with a disability: a unique trial approach that would
allow businesses to see and experience the advantages for themselves at
no initial cost.
Casey wanted to highlight the fact that people are people regardless of
disability. "Often then you see someone blind, deaf or in a wheelchair,
the first assumption made is that they can't do something. People with
a disability are more than willing to go the extra mile and have been
proven more loyal, displaying increased productivity with accumulated
skill-sets," she said, adding that "in spite of this highly
trained and educated source of labour, only a small percentage of people
with disabilities are currently employed in Ireland. We are ready, willing
and able ? are Irish employers," she challenged.
Michael Buckley, CEO, Allied Irish Banks Group, recorded his thoughts
on video for the conference to share with other employers: "When
I met Caroline Casey, I became acutely conscious of how the employment
of people with disabilities is an opportunity rather than a duty.
"If a company is to get serious about getting added value from people
with a disability, there is a need for leadership from the top. I really
think that the senior management of an organisation needs to embrace the
notion that diversity in your employee pool is a good thing," he
said. This extended to looking seriously at the qualities that someone
who happens to have a disability can bring to a team environment.
"There are lots of pluses, whether in individual roles or in a team,"
he said. "People with a disability can be a tremendous asset not
only for their own contribution, but what they bring out in others.
"A work environment that is free from prejudice and encourages all
of us to give freely and to the utmost of our abilities should not be
something that we just aspire to in today's world. It should be something
that we demand and expect," Buckley concluded.
For further information contact:
Coman Kenny, Communications Manager
The Aisling Project
Tel: +353 (0)1 465 2880
Mob: +353 (0)86 804 6260
Email: comank@eircom.net
Website: www.theaislingproject.org
Posted: 4 July, 2002 |
